successful pattern to follow, ronald reagan's. on the other hand, you had the debt limit talks in 2011 where president obama in the middle of talks never, until this day, has gotten specific. we don't know if he offered to raise the medicare retirement age. we don't know how much he said he would cut medicare and enact entitlement reform. so he did the opposite. he went into a serious negotiation not as a candidate but as the president and never got specific. it's one of the reasons we never got a big debt limit deal. so i think mitt romney actually is following the reagan pattern. the question is who when it comes to real negotiation with congress will follow through and get it done. i think mitt romney would be stronger at that. the president, if he could have done it, would have done it. >> secretary reish -- >> let me -- with due respect, with due respect to mr. fleischer, the fact is when ronald reagan was running we didn't have the kind of budget deficit we have right now. it's very -- >> that's not the point. >> you cannot